Before Uvalde, there was Buffalo

Ten days before the massacre in our own region, there was Buffalo. Friend and partner to FSW, Starlette Thomas, offers this reflection in Good Faith Media of what transpired at her mom’s local grocery store and the racist conspiracy theory behind the attack.

The killer’s motives are clear. We mourn the loss of life, pray for the victims, and condemn racist violence. We also seek to understand the fear and sadness in the Black community and confront both individual racism and the ways white supremacy is baked into society.

According to a poll by the Washington Post seventy-five percent of Black Americans are worried that they or somebody they love will be physically attacked because they are Black and another fifty-three percent believe the violence will get worse. I don’t believe most white Americans have any idea the level of fear and worry that our Black brothers and sisters live with on a daily basis.

We also confess that white Christianity in America has largely failed to lead folks away from their racist beliefs. In fact, As Robert Jones so clearly shows in White Too Long, the white church has often acted in concert with such beliefs and upheld racist systems.

We pray that Fellowship Southwest can be a place where white, Black and Brown churches, Christians, and faith leaders can work together towards racial justice and a different future led by the spirit of Christ the liberator.